GOP House candidate from Winona says he’s open to an abortion ban at ‘5 or 6 weeks’

A Republican candidate for the Minnesota House said he believes abortion should be limited, and expressed openness to abortion bans after the 5th or 6th week of pregnancy — before many women know they’re pregnant — according to a recording obtained by the Reformer. 

Aaron Repinski is a Winona business owner and city council member running against DFL candidate Sarah Kruger to fill the seat vacated by DFL Rep. Gene Pelowski, an anti-abortion Democrat who retired this year after serving in the Legislature for 38 years.

During a side conversation at a town hall for GOP Senate candidate Royce White, Repinski said there should be stricter limits on abortion. Repinski’s campaign manager said the candidate was unaware he was being recorded.

“I don’t know what the exact time frame is, but there needs to be a compromise and a conversation from both sides, and so maybe it is 5 to 6 weeks — I don’t know,” Repinski said. 

A study of more than 17,000 women who were pregnant between 1990 and 2012 found that the average woman was 5.5 weeks pregnant when she became aware of the pregnancy. Women with unintended pregnancies — those more likely to be ended by abortion — learned they were pregnant an average of 2 weeks later than women who were trying to conceive.

Given this data, a ban on abortions after 5 or 6 weeks would constitute a near-total abortion ban. Minnesota law doesn’t regulate when a person may have an abortion, and lawmakers removed obstacles to the procedure like mandatory waiting periods in the 2023 legislative session.

“There has to be a compromise and there has to be…there are instances where that’s probably the right choice,” Repinski continued. “You know, I’ll be honest with that, but that’s a conversation between a patient and a doctor and there has to be a limited, and I say limited, amount of time that that’s acceptable. Not 20 weeks or 24. No, no, it has to be a limited amount of time.”

Repinski’s views on abortion are not listed on his campaign website, but he recently attended a memorial for the “pre-born lives lost to abortion” in Winona, according to his campaign Facebook account. 

Repinski declined the Reformer’s request for comment. 

House District 26A is a swing district that will help determine which party controls the House. Protecting abortion access is one of Kruger’s priorities — a key difference from Pelowski, although the area’s former DFL representative has still endorsed her.

This story was originally published by the Minnesota Reformer